I was under the impression that ESPN had a crack team of stat people working behind the scenes of their various presentations.  Geeks whose job it was to make sure the on-air “talent” didn’t make fools of themselves by belching out incorrect numbers and factoids.
Apparently ESPN has fired all these people.  Either that or their on-air “talent” is allowed to go on-air without doing any kind of meaningful prep.  How else do you explain the massive gaffe committed by “analyst” Marcellus Wiley during the following clip from tonight’s SportsCenter?

Catch it? When Wiley refers to Daunte Culpepper having led the [...]

Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline really likes the Vikings.  He placed four members of the Purple in his rankings of the Top 50 players in the NFL.  Actually, the four all placed in the top 20.  You can probably guess the names.  Here’s the complete top 20 with the Vikes in bold:

Tom Brady
Peyton Manning
LaDainian Tomlinson (I’m assuming this is regular season only)
Randy Moss
Champ Bailey
Mario Williams (yeah, picking him over Reggie Bush was a real mistake)
Bob Sanders
Carson Palmer
DeMarcus Ware
Kevin Williams
Shawne Merriman (still has whiplash from AD running by him)
Jared Allen
Terrell Owens
Albert Haynesworth
Adrian Peterson
Walter Jones
Ben Roethlisberger
Charles Woodson
Steve Hutchinson
Brian Westbrook

So we know where [...]

What would you say if I told you Daunte Culpepper was the undisputed master of the 2-Minute Drill?
You would probably laugh at me.  You might even say, “How can he be the master of the 2-Minute Drill when he doesn’t even play anymore?”
Laugh all you want; doubt all you want – Daunte Culpepper is, in fact, the master of the 2-Minute Drill.  No less an authoritative source than the Guinness Book of World Records confirms this.
Of course, the Two-Minute Drill we’re talking about is the side-game inside the Madden video game.
Still dubious?  Well, it’s true – Daunte Culpepper is officially [...]

Ray Edwards is supposed to have a bust-out season lining up on the left side of the same defensive line as Pro-Bowlers Pat Williams, Kevin Williams and Jared Allen.  Things got off to kind of an iffy start, however, when Ray tweaked his back and had to miss minicamp.
Now Edwards, according to coach Brad Childress, is looking good.  “He looks like a million bucks,” were Chilly’s exact words.  Let’s hope he also looks like about 8 sacks.
By the way, today is Chilly’s 52nd birthday.  I’m sure he’s having a high old boring time.

Former hard-hitting safety Robert Griffith signed a contract with the Vikings Wednesday so he could retire as a member of the Purple.
Griffith earned a special spot in the hearts of Vikings fans by being just about the only decent player on some of Dennis Green’s horrible defenses.  I once heard John Madden say during a game, “If Robert Griffith doesn’t make the play for the Vikings, it doesn’t get made.”  That about summed it up.

Daunte Culpepper has confirmed reports that he turned down a 1-year, $1 million offer to back up Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.
“It just wasn’t good for either side,” Daunte explained, adding, “I’m just waiting for the right situation for me. I’m in talks with a couple of different teams right now.”
Daunte insists that he wants to be a starter.  So what he’s saying is that there are a couple of different teams willing to at least give him a shot at being the #1 quarterback.  And these are Arena League teams?
Daunte’s problem of course is that he’s not the most [...]

Much has been said and written about SI’s Dr. Z picking the Vikings to win the Super Bowl.  I personally don’t get the fuss over it though.  I mean, the guy goes around calling himself “Dr. Z” – how seriously should I really take him?
I guess we should be stoked that anyone considers our team worthy of even being thrown into the discussion.  That means they should at least be pretty good.  Then again, Dr. Z did pick the Saints last year…and look what happened to them.
Of course this raises the inevitable jinx issue.  But come on…does anyone really want [...]